ARC Toolkit

Description

Note: We are sunsetting the Toolkit in its current form. There will be no more releases after this last release. We will launch a new cross-browser Toolkit in 2021.

Toolkit Description

The ARC Toolkit is a set of accessibility tools which aids developers in identifying accessibility problems and features for WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, EN 301 549, and Section 508

The toolkit is designed to be integrated into automated and manual accessibility tests and works alongside the auditor or developer in order to simplify repetitive tasks and interactively explore accessibility features and problems. The ARC Toolkit is tightly integrated with Chrome’s Developer Tools and uses the ARC rule set, the same rules used by default in the ARC platform. This allows developers and quality assurance testers to take their ARC testing into their development environments and thoroughly investigate issues raised in ARC scans. It has two components.

1. ARC Toolkit Panel
This includes a set of tests that shows results both in the panel and in the page itself. Each test can be toggled on and off so types of issues can be isolated. Issues can be selected and viewed directly in the Elements panel.

2. ARC Toolkit Sidebar Pane
This appears as a side panel of the Elements panel and includes tools that evaluate the color contrast of a given element, evaluates nodes of a document for code validation, and listens for and displays changes to individual nodes.

It runs completely local within Chrome and works within iframes, so it can evaluate any page you can browse to. If you would like to pages that are not live on a website but are in development, turn on the option to "Allow access to file URLs".

Because this tool is actively used by the TPG and Interactive Accessibility team, there are frequent updates as we further develop and refine the rules and features. If you would like training on how to use the ARC Extension for testing, please contact TPG at https://www.tpgi.com/contact/.